


The Time Turns

by Dancezwithwolvez



Series: Mystrade Drabbles [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Greg's Ex is the Worst, M/M, Protective Greg, Self-Esteem Issues, Vulnerable Mycroft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 06:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20353627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancezwithwolvez/pseuds/Dancezwithwolvez
Summary: Thank you so much @lavenderandvanilla for bearing with me and for giving me beautiful suggestions.As always @amyandjakeforever you are indispensable.Enjoy reading guys!





	The Time Turns

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much @lavenderandvanilla for bearing with me and for giving me beautiful suggestions. 
> 
> As always @amyandjakeforever you are indispensable. 
> 
> Enjoy reading guys!

"_ You cannot offer anything."_

* * *

** _Annual New Scotland Yard's Winter Ball_ **

Greg came with two champagne flutes in his hand to see that his past lover and current lover sizing each other up, like predators in the wild, fighting for their right over the female counterpart.

Mycroft had a calm, steely gaze directed towards Megan but Greg knew that his lover was anything but calm. To the world, he may be Iceman, devoid of feelings and emotions, but Greg knew his tells. The slight clenching of the jaw, the way he had his hands held behind his back and the prize winning fierce silver of his eyes.

He had almost run to defuse the tense situation unfolding in front of him when he saw his eyes. It never bode well for the opposite person.

He handed over one flute to Mycroft and immediately took his hand. He could feel Mycroft's tension slightly ebbing away. Just slightly.

Greg started out in a very obviously fake bright voice, " Oh hey love! Seems you have met my ex-wife Megan", then he turned towards his ex-wife and in a not so fake angry tone, growled," Megan, meet my partner, Mycroft Holmes."

Megan didn't seem to be fazed by Greg's revelation. She was, in fact, smiling very sweetly, smiling as if she was happy for him. But he knew better.

"Greeeeeeg", she drew his name out, in a sing- song voice. She placed her hand on his forearm and stroking it gently, as if she were petting a cat.

Greg was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with her touch. He wanted an end to this situation. Right now.

"Megan, you are lookin' great", removing his hand from her hand as subtly as possible, " I hope the very best for you", before she could respond, he added, "Now if you will excuse us, Myc and I have been called by the Minister of Defense", saying this he dragged Mycroft away.

Greg found a secluded corner of the room and led them there. He turned to face Mycroft. The storm that was brewing on his face earlier was replaced by something even worse. Mycroft looked defeated. The last time he had seen this expression on Mycroft was in a sterile hospital room, when the doctors had said that Sherlock had a 50 percent chance of survival. That was 6 years ago. Greg was feeling helpless, desperately wanting to help his disturbed lover but failing to understand how.

"Myc, love", he touched his shoulder gently and hesitantly, "are you alright?" He was met with silence. Then suddenly,as if nothing of this sort had happened before, Mycroft cleared his throat and said, "Yeah. Of course I am fine. Why wouldn't I be? Just feeling a bit tired, is all."

Greg was a bit hurt by his answer. Who did he think, Mycroft was fooling? Greg was not only a good detective, if not the best of the Scotland Yard but also Mycroft's partner since 9 months and his friend for 6 years. He knew the meaning behind each and every muscle twitch of Mycroft. And despite Mycroft knowing that fact, he still chose to lie.

"Are you sure?" he asked him again, this time the gentle tone laced with a bit of firmness. Mycroft nodded resolutely, and Greg decided to leave the matter there itself. He knew Mycroft wouldn't change his answer so he decided to ask him that question once they reached their safe confines of their house. Maybe Mycroft would feel safe there.

Greg stood with Mycroft holding his hands and looking at the crowd. He kept brushing his thumb over Mycroft's pulse and felt it returning back to a steady pace. He continued holding his hands as people drifted to and fro, making small conversations with the couple. Mycroft didn't seem to let go either.

In all of the ruckus he had forgotten about the most important thing he had planned for the evening, for the both of them.

A fond smile immediately graced his face as he thought about his plans for the night.

It was time.

He squeezed Mycroft's hand and he found himself immediately being the centre of attention of a pair of sapphire blue eyes. "C'mon. I have to show you somethin'."

Mycroft's eyes widened in confusion. But seeing Greg's blinding smile, he allowed himself to be led to wherever Greg was taking him.

Greg blindfolded Mycroft's eyes after they reached the exit of the room. Seeing Mycroft's flustered actions, Greg gently whispered to him, "You trust me, don't you?" He didn't need an answer because he knew the answer.

Mycroft stilled his actions and reached out for Greg's hands which he was given without a moment's hesitation. He held onto it tightly as Greg led him to a series of twists and turns.

Greg tightened his grip on Mycroft's hands and chuckled lightly. "I know you know how to survive if your eyes got blinded. But for now, I am asking you to keep your mind empty and just focus on my grip. I don't want you ruinin' my surprise. Got it?"

Mycroft could just nod.

After what felt like an eternity (_it was only 5_ _minutes_), Greg untied the blindfold and there it was. The behind the scenes of the clock tower- the gears, the wheels, the screws and everything required for the smooth functioning of the 17th century clock.

* * *

Mycroft stood there in silence, taking in all the sights in front of him, the sound of the clockwork soothing his frayed nerves. But he couldn't understand why Greg had brought him here.

_ Wait, this was where our first date took place. But why would he bring me here. Why? _

When he turned towards Greg to ask him, he saw him on his knees. With a brilliant smile. With a box. Inside of which was a beautiful two band platinum ring.

Greg looked up at Mycroft with slight apprehension and loads of love in his eyes. Mycroft was overcome with the amount of emotions he was witnessing on his lover's face. His knees felt weak and he dropped down, his body instinctively reaching out for its comfort. Greg took his hands and pulled him close, wrapping his arms around the middle. The familiar closeness broke down the resolve he had managed to keep all evening- he broke down, crying.

* * *

Greg looked down at his sobbing partner, who was clinging to him like someone was going to take Greg away from him. He cradled Mycroft's neck, stroking the soft ginger hair at the nape of his neck. This would usually calm him down but now it had no effect.

"P-please don't- don't leave me. Please. I- I am begging you." Mycroft's voice had a rough edge at the start and ended up being nothing more than a whisper.

Greg managed to sit him down. He withdrew his hand from Mycroft's waist and cupped his face, the other hand still stroking the nape.

"Darlin', what is it? Please tell me."

There was no response. Only fading gasps.

"Darlin' please-", Greg begged him.

Mycroft's gaze was averted the entire time he was holding onto Greg. It would still be averted had he not heard the crack in his partner's voice.

Reddened blue eyes met dark coffee brown eyes. Tears welled up again but his voice had gained some of its lost resolve.

"Greg", he breathed out.

"Myc, darlin' , was the proposal too fast for you? Because you _can _say NO ."

"Nooo-" Mycroft cried out.

"No?" Greg's heart had paused momentarily when he heard 'No'. He should have taken Mycroft's opinion on the institution of marriage before jumping into propositioning him, he chided himself.

"N-No. I mean yes." Mycroft looked at Greg helplessly, asking him- begging him to understand what he was saying, without him having to voice those words.

Greg's heart was doing a full fledged gymnastics routine when he saw his otherwise prim and proper and articulate boyfriend being at a loss for words. Being reduced to a sobbing mess.

_What is botherin' you sweetheart? What is_ _making you hurt like this? Trust me, sweetie. Trust me_.

"Myc, love, I can't understand you. Please tell me. It is just us here. Nobody. _ Just you and me. Just you and me." _

Greg was experienced in the art of talking and soothing the near and dear ones of the victims of homicides. Mycroft was a victim of some emotional problem that Greg was still unaware of.

_ Soothing 101: Ask them to take deep breaths. Focus on breathing _.

"Love, deep breaths, okay? With me?" This was Greg's forte. It made him feel slightly at ease. He had to get a hold of himself before he could ask Mycroft to calm down.

"Breathe in. Hold your breath for 3 seconds. One, two, three. Breathe out."

"The same procedure. Breathe in, hold your breath..1,2,3. Breathe out."

Greg fell into the familiar pattern of soothing the victims on his crime scene , when he realised Mycroft was responding very well to it. His breathing was not so shallow and fast anymore.

Once he was satisfied that both of them had managed a steady rhythm of respiration, he turned to Mycroft - made him look in his eyes and projected all the love he had stored up in his heart. He wanted Mycroft to see that it was just his Greg. _ His lover _.

* * *

Mycroft saw the chocolate eyes- that he had started liking, then loving, then not being able to go a day without looking into. He gathered his strength from those loving eyes and prayed to some being out there to let him complete the conversation without bursting into tears.

"Megan talked to me." Mycroft waited a breath to let Greg speak, but he remained quiet, his eyes telling Mycroft to continue and his hands in Mycroft's hands giving him the courage to do so.

"She came up with some interesting points that I believe might be true." Greg raised his one brow at the statement.

Mycroft smiled faintly at the expression that Greg had clearly learnt from him.

" She said that- since I don't offer anything to our relationship, you will get bored of me and will eventually leave me. And when you do that, she will entice you and you _ will _fall for her and start building a life with her. She said our relationship was just a phase for you and this will show you how much a woman is needed in your life."

Mycroft completed his monologue in almost a breath and now his throat was parched. He looked at Greg who had become still, his face grey and body almost lifeless- the only sign being the constant up and down of his abdomen.

Mycroft squeezed his hands and that seemed to shake Greg out of his stupor.

"Myc, love, you know that is not true. You know that this relationship- what we have is extremely important to me."

"No, I know that and I defended that to her too. Its- its just-it got me thinking of how right she was. I have nothing to offer you but myself, and that is not a very great deal, I would say. I imagined our relationship as a negotiation- a business deal and you are definitely getting the shorter end of the stick." Mycroft looked at anywhere except Greg and when his eyes landed on him, he saw that there were tears threatening to fall down.

_Nice one, Mycroft. You made the man proposing to you cry. The one man who holds your life together. YOU. DON'T. DESERVE ._ _HIM_ .

" Mycroft, how can you even say that! Jesus! Myc."

He ran a hand through his unruly hair, back to his face, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. When he looked back at Mycroft, they were angry.

"You say you don't offer anythin' to me, right, apart from yourself. I will tell you what _ you _ offer to me", Greg was practically growling at this point.

"You offer me your unconditional love. You offer me your vulnerability, your trust. Do you know how that makes me feel, when I know that I am the only person you will come rant to-to feel lighter- to reduce your burdens", he didn't wait for an answer, "I feel privileged, Myc. _ Honoured _."

"You offer me the satisfaction that I am the _ one _ \- the only one who can improve your foul mood, who can make you scream and forget everything else but my name. You offer me a shoulder to cry on days that are hard for me. You offer me a reason to look forward to a new day. You offer me immeasurable happiness. You offer me _ everything _ . You offer me the world, Myc. _ The world _." By the time, Greg completed his little list, he was reduced to tears.

"I need only you Mycroft, sweetheart. Only you. There will never be anybody else, darling. It is you. It will always be you. Please Mycroft, please tell me you understand this."

Mycroft suddenly realised how trivial his concerns had been. How could he not see this. This- right in front of him. It was everything he had asked for and more. He still believed Greg received the shorter end, but it seemed it was not that short after all. Greg would not leave him. Greg loved him and would continue to love him forever and a day.

He understood, after 9 months, the depth and intensity of Greg's love. It would have scared him before to be the recipient of such affection but not today. _ Not today _, when he knew that he offered Greg the same amount of love- with the same intensity and passion. If Greg believed that, that was enough for him.

He gathered Greg in his arms and hugged him tightly, his voice cracking ever so gently, "I am sorry, Gregory. I am sorry. Please forgive me. "

Greg continued crying softly, nuzzling into his neck. Mycroft felt terrible for breaking the poor man's heart- but he would apologize.

He started out hesitantly, "If the offer still stands, I would say yes."

Greg looked up at him with confusion-"offer?"

"Offer of your companionship for life."

When Greg understood, his eyes lit up like 1000 lanterns- like the scene in _ Tangled.*_ He scampered to find the small box and the man's face lit up- _ from inside _. He took the ring from the box and slid onto Mycroft's outstretched hand. The ring fit perfectly- as if it was always meant to be there.

Looking down at his hand, fresh tears welled up. But this time it was accompanied by a night blinding smile. The ring was a physical proof that he was the luckiest bastard alive. The shimmer of the metal was very alike his partner-uh, fiance's hair and stroking it, felt like stroking Greg's hair- soft and cool. He knew he was being excessively soppy but he didn't care.

He looked at Greg- the man responsible for bringing him to his knees with a lopsided smile- and found him coming closer and closer, flashing his bright teeth.

He found himself in his arms- the safest place in the world, the cosiest place in the world. He continued to hold onto Greg, until he realised he had forgotten to do the most important thing. _ Kiss._

* * *

They kissed like they had never kissed before. They put everything into that kiss- their love, their affection, their fragility, their strength, their tears, their trust- _ everything _. They continued kissing until they realised they had to breathe to continue kissing more. They came apart, their lips apart but their foreheads still touching and their eyes closed, the tears still running on both faces - each one taking in the feel of the surroundings, each one trying to find stuff that would make this situation real.

Greg took Mycroft's ringed hand and kept kissing it. This simple act pummeled Mycroft's heart into the stratosphere. They sat by the window, overlooking the night skyline, intertwining their fingers. Mycroft's head rested upon Greg's shoulders and he left out a sigh of contentment.

Greg was the first one to speak. " I am sorry to be bringing this up, but why did you cry when I proposed to you?"

Mycroft mumbled, embarrassed about his outbreak, "I felt that I was going to the reason for your third failed marriage. I couldn't bear to think that I would be causing harm to you. "

Greg just nodded. "I want you to promise me somethin' and I expect you to follow it", he said in DCI Gregory Lestrade voice.

Mycroft straightened up, feeling like a naughty kid, who was just given his last and final warning.

" I can't take your self- deprecations anymore, Mycroft. There is self deprecating humor and then there is just plain insulting. And you fall in the latter category. How would you feel if someone or even me, criticising aspects about me?"

When the silence grew a bit longer than necessary, Mycroft understood that it was not a rhetorical question and he needed to answer.

He mumbled, "Angry. Sad. Annoyed."

"That is exactly how I feel Myc, whenever you talk shit about yourself. I am mad at myself for not being able to change the way you look at yourself and sad that you don't see the man I see. You know what I see, Myc?"

Mycroft shook his head silently.

"I see a good man, who is a kind brother and a damn good lover. In all aspects. I see a man, who despite being known for his iciness and being devoid of emotions, continues to protect the people who label him that way and helps the downtrodden. Do not for one second think that I don't know about your generous attitude. You forget I am friends with Anthea."

Mycroft could just look at Greg bewilderedly.

"When you talk down upon yourself Myc, I feel hurt. I feel like you don't trust me and my opinions. I feel like my opinions are being squandered. It is not a pleasant feeling, Myc. It is not. Trust me, please. See yourself through my eyes, Mycroft and you will see the most beautiful man in the world. Please Myc. Promise me that you will see it."

Mycroft closed his eyes and took in every word that Greg had uttered. He was not there yet but he knew he would be. The shackles of previous relationships that made him look at himself skeptically were breaking. It was just a matter of time when he would be all Greg's. Maybe that time he would see the man Greg saw in him. _ Not maybe. Definitely _.

Greg planted a fierce kiss to his temple and hissed, " Don't you dare insult my fiance. He is MINE. I don't care how powerful you are.I will fight you with every ounce of my being if you utter a single word against him. You got that, posh?"

Mycroft nodded resolutely, turned on by the gravelly voice of his possessive lover. He flushed the deepest shade of pink and Greg could only kiss the pink and chuckle fondly, at the reaction provoked.

* * *

It was time they moved the celebration of their proposal to the confines of their home. There was one part of the celebration they couldn't do it here, in the clockwork room- the most important part. Because if they did, they would be responsible for the malfunctioning of a 17th century clock. They couldn't do that, now could they.

But before the smutty activities resumed, they stayed there for some more time, relishing the closeness and warmth they got from each other.

* * *

_ Greg had brought Mycroft on their first date, 9 months ago. And here they were. He could still remember the way Mycroft had held him tightly when Greg decided to take his back, he could remember the slight hitch in Mycroft's breathing when he saw Greg in a worn but loyal leather jacket. The best part about that evening was the way Mycroft's eyes lit up when he saw the clockwork. The scene seemed to have knocked 20 years of his face and he looked every bit like an over excited toddler. He had launched into several descriptions and explanations, oblivious to the fact that he had just captured Gregory Lestrade's heart and would forever be in possession of it. He had a rosy tint to his face- partly from getting exhausted from the rambling and mostly due to the hungry look in Greg's eyes. They had their first kiss as boyfriends. And now they had their first kiss as fiances._

* * *

* Mycroft won't admit to **loving **_Tangled_ so much, that he can mouth the lines. He _just_ happens to be speaking the same lines to the air at the time. 

_Now what did we say about coincidences, Myc?_

* * *

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> My second Mystrade fic, woohoo!!
> 
> I hope you had a good time reading it. If you have any suggestions or comments, please do visit the comment section. 
> 
> Thank you for reading it!!


End file.
